Welcome to the Hardtack Regiment website. This site is intended to serve as a link between people interested in the Civil War history of the 154th New York Volunteer Infantry and me, the regimental historian, Mark H. Dunkelman.
(Click on image to enlarge.)
My interest in the 154th New York began during my childhood in the 1950s, when I learned that my great-grandfather, John Langhans (pictured above), served in the regiment. I soon discovered that the 154th’s legacy was neglected — a situation I was determined to change. During decades of research I have contacted more than 1,100 descendants of members of the regiment, who have graciously allowed me access to more than 1,700 wartime letters, a score of diaries and accounts, 250 portraits, and other material. I have used these primary sources to write several books and numerous articles on various aspects of 154th New York history. Links to lists of my publications appear below.
Are you related to a member of the 154th New York? If so, I would very much like to add you to the roll of descendants of the regiment to represent your ancestor. Please e-mail me at NYVI154th@aol.com and include your name, postal mailing address, ancestor’s name, and your relationship to him. I will look forward to hearing from you!
Links to a complete roster of the 154th New York appear below. This roster includes the men’s vital statistics, where known. Any additions or corrections are welcome. I can provide you with your ancestor’s service record, augmented in many cases by mentions of him in the wartime letters and diaries of his comrades.
Since 1986, we descendants of the 154th New York have been gathering to represent and remember our ancestors at annual reunions in Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties, New York, where the regiment was raised. To mark our tenth reunion we raised funds and erected and dedicated a regimental monument at Chancellorsville, Virginia, the 154th's bloodiest battlefield. A link to a summary of our reunions appears below.
During the Civil War, the 154th New York earned the battle honors painted on its state flag: Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Lookout Valley, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Atlanta, Savannah, and the Campaign of the Carolinas. Combat casualties in the 154th totaled approximately 630; 232 members of the regiment died in the service. For a brief history of the 154th New York, follow the link below.
Collectively and individually, the soldiers of the 154th offer scores of subjects touching on many aspects of the war. The goal of my research and writing — and other commemorative projects — is to tell their stories and to make a once-forgotten regiment one of the best-documented units of the war. I dedicate my work to the memory of the soldiers of the Hardtack Regiment.
"What Mark Dunkelman has done for Civil War scholarship through the medium of the 154th New York reminds me of the panorama of the Old South that William Faulkner painted without leaving the imaginary confines of Yoknapatawpha County. Who would have thought that anyone could have wrung so much from a single regiment?" Award-winning Civil War historian William Marvel
"How many Mark Dunkelmans are there in our futures? How many future historians will lovingly research and re-create our past?" Author and Academy Award-winning filmmaker Errol Morris
For a list of my books at Amazon.com, click here.
To hear me talk about my book Brothers One and All on Civil War Talk Radio, click here.
To hear me talk about my book Marching with Sherman on Civil War Talk Radio, click here.
To read "Whose Father Was He?", Errol Morris's five-part New York Times essay based on my book Gettysburg's Unknown Soldier, click here.
154th NEW YORK ROSTER
Click below to view surnames beginning:
A-F
PLACES TO GO:
A Brief History of the 154th New York
Summaries of the Annual Reunions
Last revised May 12, 2013.
Copyright © 1999-2013 Mark H. Dunkelman
Special thanks to Karl Dunkelman, great-great-grandson
of Corporal John Langhans,
for his invaluable assistance in developing this site.